Duke and Duchess of Gloucester lead famous faces including Katherine Jenkins meeting veterans before 80th anniversary D-Day event at the Royal Albert Hall
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are just some of the famous faces pictured tonight as they meet veterans ahead of the Royal Albert Hall D-Day event.
Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and Danish-born Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, smiled warmly as they shook hands with veterans standing before us this evening.
Also in attendance was Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins OBE, who will perform later tonight.
The 80th anniversary event – Remembering the Normandy Landings – will be presented by Davina McCall.
The evening full of music-driven stories tells about the beginning and end of the WWII.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester greet Katherine Jenkins and Katie Ashby
The Duchess of Gloucester meets 104-year-old D-Day veteran Percy Chafer
Veterans meet the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester ahead of tonight’s event
The Duchess of Gloucester greets five-year-old Isabella Traboulsi
Katherine Jenkins and other artists meet the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester
The event will feature moving performances from Emeli Sandé, Lulu and the lead singer of The D-Day Darlings, Katie Ashby.
It also features untold personal stories in the form of letters and diary entries read by famous faces on stage and screen.
The Duchess spoke to 104-year-old D-Day veteran Percy Chafer, who is believed to be the second oldest veteran in Britain to have seen active service on D-Day.
The former gunman landed on Sword Beach with the British Army’s 7th Armored Division.
Mr Chafer, from Pimlico, told the story the BBC: ‘It was a great sight, all those boats’.
But he added: “What can we expect? The worst, I think, actually,” and said that even those who were not religious prayed.
D-Day veterans were left in tears as memories of decades past flooded as they were honored for their service by world leaders and royal houses earlier today.
Soldiers who took part in the Normandy landings eighty years ago wept as they remembered their fallen comrades and received standing ovations from grateful younger generations at a series of moving commemoration events in the north of the country. France.
Lulu performing at ‘D-Day 80 – Remembering the Normandy Landings’ at the Royal Albert Hall
Pictured are veterans at the Royal Albert Hall event tonight, 80 years later
The Duchess of Gloucester is presented with flowers by five-year-old Isabella Traboulsi
Emeli Sande will perform tonight during ‘D-Day 80 – Remembering the Normandy Landings’
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester with D-Day veterans in the Royal Retiring Room
Also in attendance was Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins OBE, who will perform later
Katherine Jenkins and D Day Darlings singer Katie Ashby at the Royal Albert Hall event
Tributes were paid to the ‘remarkable war generation’ at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, before poppy wreaths were laid in memory of the more than 25,000 soldiers who lost their lives in the early stages of the Nazi invasion. -occupied Europe.
The number of veterans present was only a few dozen, while the number of survivors decreases every year – at the 75th anniversary five years ago, 255 traveled to France, compared to the 50 who made the trip this time.
King Charles And Queen Camille led those present, including the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French president Emmanuel Macronin a moving silent prayer to remember those who are no longer with us, while memories of those who were on the beaches 80 years ago were also read out.
There were also moments of levity, with Queen Camilla receiving a white rose from a veteran out of respect, with Her Majesty holding the tender gift in her hand as she spoke to the former soldiers.
Queen Camilla receives a white rose from a D-Day veteran as she speaks to them this morning
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sends D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan, 100, from Crewe
Tributes were paid to the ‘remarkable war generation’ at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, before poppy wreaths were laid in memory of the more than 25,000 soldiers who lost their lives in the early stages of the Nazi invasion. -occupied Europe
There were tears among the crowd, including veterans, at the emotional service in Ver-sur-Mer in northern France this morning
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska also arrived in Normandy with a message rooted in the shared values of the Allies and Ukrainians fighting the Russian invasion.
Elsewhere, Prince William was seen at Juno Beach, where hundreds of Canadian troops died, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of an international meeting later in the day that US President Joe Biden was expected to attend.
In Ver-sur-Mer, Charles led 2,000 dignitaries, soldiers and veterans in paying tribute to those who stormed the beaches.
Charles joined President Macron, Mr Sunak and military leaders in laying poppy wreaths at the monument as Elgar’s Nimrod was performed by a brass band in the background, while the national anthems of France and the United Kingdom were also played as the Red Arrows roared overhead.
They were also presented with white roses by French schoolchildren, while cadets waved flags, and received several standing ovations during the two-hour service, before shaking hands and exchanging words with His Majesty.
The monarch looked emotional as he listened to singer Johnny Flynn perform ‘Song with no Name’ in tribute to the fallen, while Camilla wiped her eyes as actor Martin Freeman read a moving diary entry from a survivor who noted ‘it’s because of the boys [who died] that I am here today’.
